How to make images smaller without losing quality
Phone cameras produce photos of 3 to 8 MB each, far bigger than any screen needs. Large images slow websites down, bounce back from email and eat storage. The good news is you can usually cut the file size by 80 to 90% with no difference anyone will notice on screen.
Step 1: resize to the size you actually need
Most of the saving comes from reducing the pixel dimensions. A 4,000-pixel-wide photo shown in a 1,000-pixel space is wasting most of its data.
| Use | Suggested width |
|---|---|
| Full-width website image | 1,600–1,920 px |
| Blog or article image | 1,200 px |
| Email attachment | 1,280 px |
| Instagram post | 1,080 px |
| Thumbnail | 400 px |
Step 2: choose the right format
- WebP gives the smallest files for both photos and graphics, and every modern browser supports it. It's the best choice for websites.
- JPEG is the universal format for photos. Use it when the image is going somewhere that might not accept WebP, such as some email systems or older software.
- PNG is lossless, so it keeps sharp edges and supports transparency. It's right for logos, screenshots and diagrams, but makes photos very large.
Step 3: set the quality
For JPEG and WebP, a quality setting of 75 to 80% is the sweet spot for photos. Below about 60%, blocky artefacts start to appear. Above 90%, files grow quickly for detail nobody can see. For anything going to print, keep the original size and use 90% or higher.
Why it matters for websites
Images are usually the heaviest part of a web page. Smaller images make pages load faster, especially on mobile data, and Google uses page speed as one of its signals when ranking pages. Compressing a site's images is often the quickest speed improvement available.
Keep your originals
Compression throws information away, so always keep the original photo and work on a copy. Compressing an already-compressed JPEG again and again gradually degrades it.
The TallyTools image compressor works entirely in your browser, so your photos are never uploaded anywhere. That matters for private images like documents, receipts or family photos.
Try it: the image compressor does this instantly, free and in your browser.